


C4S3 Cutscenes

by 12yz12ab



Category: RPGStuck
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-13
Updated: 2017-08-04
Packaged: 2018-08-08 14:08:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7760869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/12yz12ab/pseuds/12yz12ab
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stuff for a Homestuck DnD campaign. This is not a full story! Read the rest at https://www.reddit.com/r/RPGStuck_C4 .</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Newspaper Clippings

**Author's Note:**

> This isn't an actual story, just a bunch of "cutscenes" for a Homestuck DnD campaign I'm writing. Things will be put here as they happen.

"Yo, yo, yo, wake up Chicago! It's your boy J-Dawg, coming to you live from the Windy City, bright and early here, 7:30 in the mornin', so let's get right into the..."

"...news, a recent study from our sources has shown that the new craze among this generation of youth, virtual reality gaming, has been shown to cause CANCER and SPACE-AIDS! This has been R. E. Porter, from the Daily Mail. Next on the news, have..."

"...politics, a man named Michael Sardon, originating from Manhattan and leader of an unorthodox political movement, has marched into the White House and declared himself "Agonocratic Leader of the United States"! Nobody here is sure what exactly this means, but we have rumors that it is linked to a fascist communist organization that seeks to CORRUPT AMERICAN SOCIETY as we..."

"...must recognize the crimes against humanity and atrocities committed in World War II.5, and further humanitarian effort to restore peace in these regions and combat poverty. We hope the new leader of the..."

"...United States, I, Michael Sardon, promise a better future for this country, under the flag of the Agonocracy. No longer shall we be held back by the weak, and no longer shall we let others bend us to their will. We shall band together under one movement, and under this new movement, our country shall attain greatness the likes of which have never before..."

"...seen, as Nick Bronev, famed archaeologist, unearthed ruins two years ago that translated to a binary code for a strange and highly advanced video game! People worldwide have been hyped for the public release of the game, which will be happening one week from today! Rumor has it that it's an action-adventure role-playing game with hybrid sci-fi and fantasy elements, so get your PCs ready for an experience never-before seen! This..."

"...has been quite a morning so far, with all these recent events, and the way things are shaping up, it looks like the rest of the week is going to be just as eventful. This has been J-Dawg, signing off!"


	2. Where Were You [Beginning of Act 1]

One week later.  
Where were you when it happened?  
Were you the scientists who found the anomalies appear within the 4th and 5th Lagrange points of the Sun-Earth orbit?  
Were you the government officials who were tasked with keeping their people from panicking?  
Were you the the one who saw them blot out the sun, and panicked?  
Were you the mother who carried her son, and tried to shield him from their gaze?  
Were you the mother who swallowed her son whole soon after?  
Were you the man coming home from the war, eager to see his family?  
Were you the man who had no one left to call family when he arrived?  
Were you the official who welcomed the beings with open arms, and tried to make a truce between their worlds?  
Were you the official who got smited to a pile of ashes on live television?  
Were you the man about to die, who said his goodbyes, and looked to the sky one last time?  
Were you the man about to die, the last thing seen being death itself?  
Were you the minister who promised salvation to the people, the one who promised a rapture to save the souls of the faithful?  
Were you the minister who saw his faith and all the other things he knew crumble to dust right before his eyes?  
You weren't any of these people. You're just going to escape.  
zoroastrianTextuary [ZT] has contacted pigBurner [PB], melancholicRegent [MR], (Lysander's pesterchum handle) [MS], theBoss [TB], groundedMythologist [GM], operaticTinner [OT], scenicExplorator [SE], unstableEquilibrium [UE]  
zoroastrianTextuary has sent file "sabbath.mp4"  
When you open the file, a young boy/girl/you can't really tell, around the age of 12 or 13, with olive skin, black hair, and beige robes, is standing in a similarly beige room.  
"If you're watching this, they're here. Don't go outside. If you must, don't look up. Don't listen to a thing they say.  
Get to your home immediately. If you do not have access to your home, or if you do not have a home, get to a stable environment. Clear out space.  
From this point on, you are the only people who aren't doomed to die. You choose your own fate from now on. Make it a good one.  
I'm going to send a file. Open it, for it will be the your escape route.  
This game I have spoken of goes by many names. SABATH, Sburb, it doesn't matter. What does matter is that the game is highly dangerous, and usually takes route in a universe as a game for electronic devices.  
This game has much more to it than you think. I can't speak much of it, but from what I can tell you, your ancestors or loved ones know much more than you think.  
After all, they're the ones who played it."  
At this point in the video, a black figure flashes in the background of the video. Lysander notices that it looks like the Supreme Archdevil herself. Marcus gets a strange nostalgic feeling upon seeing the male figure. Phrody sees not one figure, but an entire family: her family. The Boss gets a strange feeling of deja vu. Tennyn sees her mother in the two figures she sees. Razero gets a vision of her ancestors. Kat sees a male figure that reminds her of her own family. Lukas sees his own mother within the background.  
"I don't know what will happen to me from this point onwards. Good luck, and godspeed."  
The video abruptly ends here.  
zoroastrianTextuary has sent a file: "sabrx.~ath"


	3. Loss of a Friend

A new memo has been opened.  
ZT: i bring news of both good and bad.  
ZT: i have successfuly run SABRX. upon its startup, a message appeared upon a background of an icosahedron and two cherubs in mating form.  
ZT: it is a message from a "Council of the Overmind", only telling me that i am destined for "a fate much greater."  
ZT: a client-server interface appeared, but with only one box over the face of the icosahedron facing towards the viewer, instead of a circle of boxes.  
ZT: the box had my face in it, and a label of my true name.  
ZT: these instances of 1-player S-B sessions are rare in Paradox Space. there is no telling what will happen beyond this point, but i'm going in.  
ZT: as for the bad, i regretfully inform you that pigBurner, known as Kat on the physical plane, has fallen.  
ZT: this memo will be dedicated to her memory.


	4. A Fate Much Greater [End of Act 1, Beginning of Act 2]

ZT: my own game has begun.  
ZT: using the interface of the game, i began to restructure my living space to fit my needs. i placed down one machine labeled a cruxtruder on the roof, and out of the top came an orb, which slowly degraded before my eyes.  
ZT: it collapsed, and spread out into a ring that circled my abode and veiled it with energy. reality outside of the ring was collapsing, but this circle was protecting me somehow.  
ZT: it grew higher and higher, as the extradimensional beasts outside of the ring began to take a bipedal form. they appeared as an assortment of species from all over Paradox Space, humans, trolls, cherubs, squiddles, as far as the eye could see!  
ZT: i came to realize that they stopped for a reason. they weren't attempting to break the ring.  
ZT: instead, they were bowing.  
ZT: that was the last i saw before the ring grew brighter, and everything changed.  
ZT: the ring disappeared, revealing the surface of a barren moon circling a larger green planet. an icosahedron appeared in front of me, before the rest of its body manifested, a being of pure light with four arms, and an imposing figure.  
ZT: it produced a familiar voice, and introduced himself to me as the Overmind, Head of His Council and Progenitor of Paradox Space.  
ZT: he gave me a task to complete within this new realm, and told me that i am the only one meant to go through this journey. at the end of the journey lies a reward, one much greater than any other reward this game's iterations could possibly gift anyone.  
ZT: this is my first step.  
END OF ACT 1  
To players of S-B Instance Ω-Δ-C4S3,  
It appears all players have entered the Incipisphere, and the chain of players has been fully linked and completed. This is only the beginning of many trials yet to come. Know your place, and may the odds be in your favor.  
\--Council of the Overmind


	5. Procession of the Horrorterrors

The next time you turn on the TV, you see this.

You see a horrid sight: a setting of a city in ruins, and [two people](http://i.imgur.com/Kc8Larp.jpg) excessively cheery over its destruction, in front of a crowd of what appears to be various humans, trolls, and beings you've never seen before. They look at the camera, and introduce themselves.

"Ladies, gentlemen, and all in between! Welcome to the moment you've all been waiting for, the official declaration of Omega-Delta-C4S3's Earth as free-rein!" the one with the shoulder-length hair says.

"Preparations have been made in the former city of London, England to welcome Lord Cygnus of the Furthest Ring to this wonderful event, his transport arriving very soon!" the one with the undercut says.

The camera pans up, revealing a massive, vaguely humanoid gray structure in the sky. From the perspective of the camera, it looks just slightly larger than the sun. Its hands come together, one on top of the other leaving space in the center. The center of the hands flashes, briefly outshining the sun and blinding the camera, before the light dissipates. The camera pans down back to Earth, revealing an intricate carpet rolled out leading to steps and a grand podium without a microphone, stationed on what appears to be the high level of Tower Bridge. At the other end appears a [handsome individual](https://i.imgur.com/dkVmUdT.jpg) dressed in a suit and bowtie, accompanied by two bodyguards.

What appears to be a human woman with short brown hair and black eyes near the podium begins playing an elaborately-carved lyre, and plays with a sound as full as an entire orchestra a [triumphant melody.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBdKlNsuPd4) The person accompanied by his two bodyguards with his hands behind his back slowly walks with a sense of importance and his head held high to the podium. His bodyguards stop at the base of the podium, as he walks up a step on the side, and turns to address the crowd in front of him. The camera angle changes to face him directly, puts his fingertips together, and begins to speak.

"To the Noble Circle of Horrorterrors, and to all of the gods and other beings of the Furthest Ring. We have carried out our duty to the Council of the Overmind to begin the purge and temporary to permanent hold of a universe that was never meant to exist. I would like to thank all entities involved in aforementioned purge, as without them, what we have done would not be possible."

Cheers from the crowd are heard. You briefly hear a jeer, but a strategically placed flash of lightning later, it is quickly silenced.

"As a ceremonial gesture symbolizing the dominance of the Noble Circle of Horrorterrors and the Council of the Overmind over Omega-Delta-C4S3's Earth, I have ordered the leader of the region we hold this ceremony in today to be marched forward to the stage," Cygnus continues, as an old man in a blue suit who looks very familiar is marched forth to the podium by an intimidating-looking man in a military uniform with sunglasses on who Yanniy recognizes as Ursa Major. The man is pushed down, and kneels before Cygnus. "What do you have to say for yourself, Charles?" Cygnus looks down at the man.

The man stays silent.

"What do you have to say in your defense, in the defense of your countrymen, in defense of your race and all other races who live on this pitiful planet?"

The man stays silent.

"You do not have anything to say. You cannot even form sounds, let alone a defense. You are a hollow shell to the greatness of the Horrorterrors and the Council, a shadow of your former self. It is time you are put out of your misery.

God save the King," Cygnus grins twistedly, clasping his left hand in mid-air while the former king suffocates. His final breath leaves him, and he collapses to the ground. The beasts of the Furthest Ring cheer as his head hits the ground, clouds covering the city overhead.

"I declare this planet to be under the domain of the Noble Circle of Horrorterrors!” The crowd celebrated boisterously, dispersing throughout the city to wreak more havoc.

And one final message to the players of S-B instance Omega-Delta-C4S3: may the odds be in your favor."

The broadcast cuts.


	6. Dyeus [End of Act 2, Beginning of Act 3]

Prepare. Prepare for EoA2, but greater. Bigger, better, and most importantly, much more disappointing. Thank you to the ones still here for sticking with us this long, and--

Who am I even kidding anymore. What am I, other than a narrator trying to thrust his way back into the spotlight, like the person who inhabited this mansion before me?

Leave me to finish your work, a great man you are. Threads of plot loose and unfinished. What a garment that would be to wear, if the amount of holes in the fabric wouldn’t get you arrested right away for indecency. This tablet is broken, the chair is squeaky, the window is cracked letting in a draft into the green office, paint starting to chip off the wall, revealing drywall only made of solidified ego holding together a metaphysical mansion made of promises built on the cliff of a legacy looking over an ocean of nothing but hatred and despair. But you and I both know, reader, that you’re not here for the edgy poetry of an angsty teenager. 

You’re here for the show.

And boy, can I put on a show!

* * *

Phrody wanders through the strange golden city-moon. After a brutal battle with a couple of underlings, she certainly deserves the rest. Carapacians mill about in their ordinary business, when clouds begin to slightly darken the city below her.

When she looks into the clouds, she sees visions, of events that happened, events happening, and events yet to happen.

She sees a troll girl in a hoodie with purple bangs in an audience with the black king. You see her again in a temple of sorts, a statue crumbling, and an adult troll woman in a cloak appearing in its place.

She sees a short boy with messy hair meet a girl with green skin and a white sun hat through the window of a... tree?

She sees a serious young troll woman enter a club full of turtles and imps alike, who doesn't look amused with the situation.

She sees a troll in a welding mask wielding a staff listening in on his own consorts, cultists worshipping powers beyond their comprehension.

Another cloud passes by, showing a boy returning from an interdimensional mall to meet with his own consorts, a different breed of cultists.

She sees another boy-- troll-- no, human-- no, girl...? No, boy, deciding on an illusion in front of a tall mountain on his land, as he steps into a gate on its side.

She sees a different boy clutching a VHS tape, returning home after a long journey. The cloud zooms in on the tape.

She sees the cloaked troll from before, in a valiant fight against an unknown entity. The cloud flashes once, before revealing the previously unknown entity: a dodecahedron, floating above what appears to be the surface and deflecting all of her attacks.

Before you can see what happens in the end, another cloud passes by.

It's herself.

In the cloud, she’s fighting a Golem, much taller than the one she has seen, but she’s doing well, slicing away at its shiny, blocky metal exterior. She lands the final blow....

...and the cloud dissipates.

The Rogue of Life flies back to her room, and returns to the waking world.

* * *

Lukas stands in an unfamiliar bedroom, the walls being made out of a light wood, a different Skaia shining in through the circular window over a strange land of multi-colored plants in a purple soil. A small distance away is a mountain, no, volcano, that Skaia seems to shine directly above. Around the room is a bed that looks to be carved out of the same wood from the tree, with sheets made of a wheat-colored interwoven fiber. A desk carved from the same wood is also present, with a computer made of--

“OH MY HEAVENS!” A shriek comes from the doorway. A young woman-- wait. She isn't human nor troll, but instead has thick light green skin with thin lines on it like the veins of a leaf, with a collection of leaves for hair and a red flower on top of her head, which she quickly covers with a hat as she blushes in embarrassment. She's wearing a [dark blue dress](https://images.rewardstyle.com/img?v=2.13&p=n_36532692) that goes a bit past her knees with a light blue embroidered design across the front that looks like a lowercase Greek letter "rho".

“Who are you and what are you doing in my room?! I didn't have my hat on, you could have seen... oh my. Although, for you, perhaps I wouldn't mind as much! I just alchemized a new dress, and I wanted to try it on, and I went to my room to get a matching hat and my goodness this is just awkward after awkward so my name's Azelea Rhodos what's yours???”

Lukas blinks, taken aback by the sudden appearance of the girl. “Lukas, Lukas Miller. Um, hi?” he says slowly, feeling kind of awkward from the situation.

“Yes, Hello, Lukas-- wait. Lukas Miller? I've heard that name from a television program I saw! The display glitched out, and I only got to see the part where they read off names. They listed my name, and mentioned you, and a relative I assume, but it switched back in time before I could hear anything more,” Azelea responds, recognizing his name with some sense of familiarity.

“That was my mom, and I'm here because I can teleport. No, I can’t control it. It sucks,” Lukas tries to explain his strange entrance.

“Teleportation? Skreb just gets stranger and stranger. Another note: what happened to your skin? Do you have a chlorophyll defiency? I'm sorry for intruding. And the leaves on your head are... wait a minute... you're not wearing a hat, how indecent! But you don't even have any…,” Azelea snickers to herself after her barrage of questions. She quickly grabs a spare straw sun hat she had hanging on a hook and hands it to Lukas. “Nevermind, just, here, put this on,” she says, handing Lukas the hat. Together, they talk about various things like the nature of the game, who sent them there, differences between their races, and at one point, [a brief interruption](https://www.reddit.com/r/RPGStuck_C4/comments/60lsae/c4s3_act_2_update_1/dj4v4xw/) from Azelea’s “friend”, Lantana. Azelea blushes throughout the entire conversation.

“Well, I hope you’ll see her again soon!” says Azelea, referring to Lukas’s mother, back at his Land of Flora and Fauna.

“I do too, but I have no idea when I’ll get home,” Lukas sighs. Azelea moves her hand closer to his.

“I guess you’ll find out when it happens!” she remarks, reminded that Lukas could go away at any moment without notice. “Well, in the meantime, how about we--”

Azelea doesn’t finish her sentence, for the next time she looks to her side, the Mage of Space is gone.

contemplatingDesigner [CD] began espering scenicExplorator [SE].  
CD: lukas?  
CD: what happened?  
CD: we were talking, and you teleported away. was that what you were describing?  
CD: are you in someplace safe?  
CD: talk to you soon!

* * *

CD: it's been about a week, i wanted to see if you're ok! i figured out what to do with the forge!

* * *

CD: well, we did it.  
CD: we beat the game, and we're about to step through the final door.  
CD: my friend, lantana, was teasing me while we were talking, saying i had a crush.  
CD: admittedly, he was kind of right, haha!  
CD: i don't anymore, though. i don't think i'm ready for any kind of relationship like that, honestly.  
CD: anyways, lantana's gotten a lot... saner, but he mentioned you, and i just wanted to catch up.  
CD: our team leader's about to open the door. thanks for stopping by, and i hope to see you in the future!  
contemplatingDesigner [CD] ceased espering scenicExplorator [SE]. (Error:crossTimelineScaleException YEARS AGO)

* * *

The Boss comes to the edge of a monolithic city in the middle of the desert she calls her land, and see a 10-foot-tall wall made of a jet black stone that looks almost alien. There's a separation in the wall marked by red lines, with cameras guarding it and a small screen next to it. She moves closer, and sees that it prompts her to place her hand on the display.

She follows the directions, prompting a new screen.

“WELCOME GUEST. PLEASE ACCEPT THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS BEFORE ENTERING,” text on the screen reads in all caps. A grainy robotic text-to-speech voice out of a small speaker reads off the sentence, as The Boss scrolls through the body of text.

“These terms and conditions create a contract between you and Capital K (the “Agreement”). Please read the Agreement carefully. To confirm your understanding and acceptance of the Agreement, click “Agree.”  
A. INTRODUCTION TO OUR SERVICES  
This Agreement governs your use of Capital K's services (“Services”), through which you can.... Our Services are…,”

The Boss almost nods off, but quickly regains her concentration. She decides to blindly press accept. The screen asks her to enter her name. She briefly hesitates, but has long since given up “Adanne”.

She is only The Boss now.

A partition in the black wall appears, allowing her to step through a gateway to a city much unlike the small villages she has seen elsewhere. The buildings in here aren't made of sandstone, but the same polished black material the walls are made out of. The ground is largely paved, or changed. There is no sand here, but there are a lot more turtles, who are perfectly fine with The Boss’s imp friend tagging along. In face, they appear to be fine with just about everything. Some of them have a glazed look on their faces, even though the place itself looks very active. The Boss is skeptical. She briefly considers an idea of mind control, but nevertheless beckons her imp friend to follow her as she marches forward through the city, walking between the skyscrapers that surround and tower above her. They disorient her, all looking the same, pillars of black stone with rows of red windows and lines streaking down them, reminding her of the city walls, but she’s determined to find out what’s going on. She picks a building, and steps inside.

As soon as she steps in, she feels a pulsing from the ground, that she soon realizes is the bass of [funky music](https://youtu.be/ChX1Pgo8AMM) playing within. Her eyes adjust to the bright lights in the building, as she looks around, seeing masses of imps and consorts dancing along to the music. She realizes that the red windows on the outside were purely cosmetic, only seeing black walls plastered with screens in the massive atrium that she’s in. There are two balconies above you, filled with a similar mass of imps and turtles, with columns with their own screens holding the balconies up.

Around her, the floor looks like it was ripped straight from the 70's. Parts of the floor that aren't flashing multicolored disco lights are covered in shag carpet. Aside from the carpet, the tables look ultra-modern, glass rectangles elevated on black columns, with stationary "bubble" chairs around them and the occasional turtle dancing on one. The music plays on, as all the screens light up with a design of a silhouette of a snake with an afro and headphones, along with the letters "DJ K" signed across the bottom.

"HOW'RE Y'ALL DOING TONIGHT!" a voice echoes over the music, coming from the screens, met with the cheers of the inhabitants of the building. "IT'S YA BOY, DJ KAIROS HERE DROPPING SOME KNOWLEDGE ON YOU PARTY-LOVERS!" More cheers are heard throughout the crowd, as the speaker pauses for applause. "I'D LIKE TO TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO REMIND Y'ALL OF THE RELEASE OF THE HOTTEST MIXTAPE ON THE MARKET! THAT'S RIGHT, YA BOY'S BACK AT IT AGAIN WITH A FRESH SET OF JAMS THAT'S SURE TO RAISE THE ROOF!" The consorts cheer a third time, some jumping off whatever table they were dancing on, and one fainting. 

"Now, how I give y'all a bit of a sneak peek of what's coming up next, for you music lovers in the crowd?" The crowd begs for whatever may be next, the lights blaring. "I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" The crowd cheers even louder, something you didn't think was possible.

"NOW THAT'S WHAT I LIKE TO HEAR!" he says, the music cleanly transitioning into [the next track](https://youtu.be/2rmhNrBfRLU).

The Boss gives the imp a questioning look, realizing that talking over the blaring funk music won’t work. The imp nods its head slowly, as another imp walks up to the duo, and offers a tray of lotus-like flowers. Her imp friend steps back at the sight of it, and shuts his eyes tightly, while the Boss briefly considers taking up the offer, but something in her gut says no. She politely refuses, but the imp insists once more, taking one for itself. She refuses again, and the imp shrugs and walks off. Her imp-friend sighs in relief. The Boss tries to ask what it was, but her friend refuses to answer, and doesn’t want to mention what just happened. He suggests to get out of here, but at the same time, he looks longingly toward the elevator. He snaps out of it, and directs her towards the door.

The Seer of Time opens the door and goes back out in search of answers.

* * *

vsauceMichael [VM] is now online.  
VM: Hey MS, Michael here!

Lysander thought he finally caught a break from the insanity of his land, a twisted amalgam of all of the campaigns he has ever written, when a metal hawk stares at him from a treetop and catches his eye. The hawk takes flight with a loud flap once, soaring straight up to the treetops, much taller than most forests you've ever seen pictures of. A robotic caw emanates from its beak, looking down on him.

VM: It looks like you were snooping in places you shouldn't be!  
VM: Or... were you really supposed to be there all along?

The hawk circles the air above Lysander, slowly ascending, analyzing its surroundings, analyzing him. It caws once again, before making a sharp right.

VM: What you said was the exact text I spoke to Jeff. This is an idea, passed from person to person.  
VM: Does that mean it's... a meme?

The hawk hovers, before flying forward and up through the trees, making a loop as it soars.

VM: But what about the universe?  
VM: Each S-B session, a new set of people from a previous universe create a new universe. Every time it happens, it gets reflected through the lens of their own thoughts.  
VM: Does this sound familiar?

The hawk flies backwards and upside down, reorienting itself 80 feet in the air above Lysander’s head.

VM: They change, they evolve. Almost like the universes are... living!  
VM: And over billions and billions of years, life changed, leading up to you and me!  
VM: Small mutations, adding up to the greatest meme ever created: evolution.

The hawk does a nose-dive, straight towards Lysander, before stopping near the ground. It hovers in front of him, and he notices something off about it. The eyes aren't natural, they're small black cameras with red lights behind them, shining in his eyes. Its coat of feathers is elegantly painted on wings of metal, and hidden behind its feet are small jets allowing it to hover. It stares at Lysander intently. "ANALYZING...."

VM: I'm a meme, you're a meme, and every living organism you have ever seen is their own meme, unique and billions of years old!  
VM: Universes are their own memes too, born from the interconnected network of Paradox Space!

The hawk opens its beak, revealing a small speaker implanted in the back of its throat. “INTRUDER DETECTED. STATE YOUR IDENTITY.”

VM: But... what is Paradox Space?

Lysander backs up, raises his hands in surrender, and announces “I'm not an intruder, Morrigan!” to the hawk monitoring him, referring to the character who specializes in bird-disguised security drones.

MS: Primordial soup, I'd be willing to bet. The same stuff a regular universe isn't made out of. Aether

“Ko-” Lysander decides against switching to that body. He saw how well that went the last time he tried. He switches bodies again.

“...Icon. I need help,” he tries. The bird scans his face further.

“POLYMORPH DETECTED,” the drone concludes. “FURTHER ANALYZATION REQUIRED,” it states further, scanning his face again as he tries to concentrate on maintaining the illusion as best he can. “WELCOME, ICON.” The hawk rests on the tree branch, and a komodo dragon dressed in a black and purple sweater comes out from behind one of the trees.

“Looks like you're getting a little rusty, eh?” Morrigan chuckles to the Heir of Heart.

* * *

>   
> “The Overmind created the remainder of his Council with the newborn Paradox Space, and gave them a duty that no other could accomplish.  
> The one of four faces is to bring Hope to the Furthest Ring, and to oppose those who Rage against him.  
> The one of six faces is to guard the universes with sound Heart and Mind, and to make way for the game of S-B.  
> The one of eight faces is to populate the stars and planets with Life, to protect from certain Doom to play the game.  
> The one of ten faces is to bring the Light of wisdom to the new life, and separate them from the Void of Paradox Space.  
> The one of twelve faces is to have the rules of S-B reside with him, to bring Breath and Blood to the perfect game.  
> And lastly, Himself, the one of twenty faces, is to rule over all Space and Time with his infinite benevolence, knowledge, and power.”  
> 

Yanniy reads the plaque in front of her carefully. Around the room, there are six pedestaled statues of geometric objects, of four, six, eight, ten, twelve, and twenty faces. There are six smaller plaques with two aspect symbols each on them that fit in the slots on the pedestal. She solves the puzzle with ease, placing each pair of aspects with their respective statue. She has been in this crypt for a while, solving these puzzles and moving forward. The door to the final room opens, and the room begins to glow.

Behind the tetrahedron appears an upward equilateral triangle on a simple drawing on a body, hovering above a pentagon, with dots that look like stars around it. The configuration of the triangle floating above the body vaguely reminds Yanniy of something she saw earlier on Derse, the appearance of the Black King.

Behind the cube, there is a cube with two circles that kind of look like planets surrounding it.

Behind the octahedron, there is a carving of an octahedron in the center of eight smaller carvings of circles, but one obscured by a black mark. Around them, two snakes like the one on the SABRX interface bite each others tails in the shape of a grand circle.

Behind the decahedron is a magically-enchanted carving of glowing dots that move with you with a decahedron in the middle. There are strange glowing bubbles in the mix of the dots, too.

Behind the dodecahedron is a carving of a dodecahedron in the center surrounded by the 12 symbols that she saw. The symbols seem to radiate power.

On the floor surrounding the icosahedron are carved glowing lines connecting to the other five shapes, along with a glowing carving of a book around the pedestal with the pedestal in the middle of the book.

Yanniy steps inside the open door. In front of her lies another room, this one with carvings of the twelve symbols on the wall. The symbols for Time, Space, Life, Hope, Void, Light, Mind, and Heart glow, with the other four glowing softer than the others. A statue of the dodecahedron is in the center.

"As the Overmind presided over His creation, He noticed an error in the timelines. A perfect creation shall have no imperfections, and in an act of wisdom he sent the Noble Circle to reclaim the universe and the descendants of the players to play once again in the game of S-B. Soon, the universe shall be reclaimed, and Paradox Space made perfect once again,” an inscription reads.

There is no door to open. The Book of the Void calls to Yanniy, as she withdraws it from her sylladex and opens it.

> The gods grow proud, their hubris overtakes
> 
> their wisdom and their judgement now obscured
> 
> and when a god steps forth, their conscience makes
> 
> their testament to death and death assured

The text in the book is accompanied by a depiction of a cloaked woman with a wand dueling against the dodecahedron, twice her size. The statue in front of Yanniy seems to radiate power, and begins to crack at the sides.

> The gods were made to rule their universe
> 
> the SABATH leading them to destiny
> 
> a rebel suffers to eternal curse
> 
> an act of impulse carried desperately

The statue continues to crack, light shining from its core. The room begins to heat up around Yanniy, the stone absorbing the warmth, the warmest she ever felt since she entered this cold new land.

> And those who rage against the Council, they
> 
> are dealt a hand of fire in return
> 
> and soul and bone shall separate from flesh
> 
> as hope is vanquished, fuel left to burn

The statue grows brighter, the walls disappearing around her, the floor beginning to crack, the book glowing with it, primordial chaos enveloping her with only the white noise of the shifting fabric of time and space.

> And with the anguish through the players cries,
> 
> with faces twelve, the Broken God shall rise.

The statue breaks with a loud crack, shards flying in all directions. The light dims, and disappears. The Book is out of the Prince’s hands and in her sylladex. Her eyes are closed. When she opens them, she sees a troll cerulean-blood woman with messy, chest-length black hair in a cloak with a symbol on the clasp holding it together at her neck, knees pressed against her chest. Upon seeing Yanniy, she slowly stands up, and stares at her.

“The Grehij child,” she says, looking up at the Prince of Void.

* * *

Kervad has to catch his breath.

He just slaughtered a basilisk three times his size, and took it down miraculously. His weapon, the Nightstormer, is impressed by his power, but as he was about to congratulate his wielder, the ground rumbles.

"This is where the real fun begins, Kervad," he says, the ground shaking, until a ghostly skeletal being claws its way out of the ground. Kervad stares up at his new foe, but shrugs, chugs a health potion, and looks at him with a determined expression.

The lich screeches at Kervad, a warning for what’s to come, but Kervad withstands the attack, and charges with the Nightstormer, a direct hit on his foe. The lich summons three skeletal minions, who immediately spot Kervad and begin to attack. Poisonous claws dig into his skin, but he grits his teeth and goes for another attack on the lich while guzzling another potion, landing yet another direct hit. The lich lets out yet another unearthly screech, attempting to blow him back, but it doesn’t work, only making Kervad tougher. _This is it,_ the Nightstormer beckons.

“F#$%. You,” he says to his foe, making one last charge towards it, as it explodes into a greater pile of grist than he’s ever seen before. He catches his breath one last time, as he spots a figure in a plague mask and black cloak and hat sitting in a beach chair off to the side.

“Holy Kek, 


End file.
